by Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas:, USA TODAY

by Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas:, USA TODAY

Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Bob Beckel is a liberal Democratic strategist. But as longtime friends, they can often find common ground on issues that lawmakers in Washington cannot.

Cal: I would be happy to give Republicans and Democrats a common ground gold star for their deal that avoided the "fiscal cliff," except that it was more like handing your money over during a holdup with the perpetrator claiming he was doing good by "spreading the wealth around."

Bob: So you would have preferred no deal, which would have caused the stock market to plunge hundreds of points, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth? The best news out of this deal is the decades-old irresponsible Republican position of never raising taxes, no matter the health of the economy, was finally broken. Even your "no tax increase ever" guru Grover Norquist signed onto the deal.

Cal: The lesser of two evils is still evil. In a weak economy, these tax increases will hurt small businesses. The critical issues - entitlement reform and the $16 trillion debt - were not addressed. As with previous tax hike deals, the spending "cuts" are minuscule and probably will never be enacted. They haven't in the past. The Congressional Budget Office calculates the ratio between tax hikes and spending cuts at 41 to 1.

Bob: I agree with you on the issue of entitlements. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone are the principal drivers of our debt, and they must be reformed in the next few months. But to try to reform these programs, which are critical to millions of Americans, in a last minute deal would have been irresponsible. There are ways to reform these programs without hurting those depending on them. Changes should be made carefully and by the appropriate committees of Congress.

Cal: Agreed, but when will that happen, if ever? Meanwhile, I await the howls from the Obama voters when they see their first January paychecks shrink with increased payroll taxes and, for some, increased federal withholding taxes. Giving more money to an overspending government is not the way to achieve financial stability.

Bob: I think most taxpayers know those were temporary cuts needed to stimulate the economy at the time. The economic recovery is now moving at a faster pace. A strong economy will reward taxpayers more than a small increase in these taxes will hurt them.

Cal: Unemployment remains high, higher for women and minorities. In his "victory" statement following the vote, the president indicated he still doesn't think "the rich" are paying their "fair share." Could we, please, retire those words? In less than two months, there will be another battle over the debt ceiling. It doesn't take a genius to predict that Democrats will run the same play again against Republicans because it always works for them. Republicans again will find themselves on the defensive. But this is what a majority of voters voted for, and they are going to have to live with the consequences.

Bob: Let's deal with serious reform of entitlements and the tax code to cut spending and not play politics with the debt ceiling. President Obama is right in warning Republicans in Congress of just that point. We are talking about the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. economy as it is seen by the rest of the world. The last thing we should do is bring the credit worthiness of the world's strongest economy into question.

Cal: That's the scare tactic we always have here, but politics aside, if that's possible in this town, we have agreed that a virus exists in Washington, which seems to infect even the most reform-minded new members of Congress. How about doing something about redistricting so voters would have an easier time dumping their congressmen who perpetuate problems instead of solving them?

Bob: A very good point! As currently drawn, mostly by partisan state legislators, house districts are set every 10 years to ensure the safety of those seats for one party or the other. Members of Congress are now more threatened by primaries than a challenger from the other party. A few states have taken redistricting out of the hands of partisans and put them in the hands of fair-minded committees. Every state should do the same.

Cal: A point that should be explored. In an age of what should be more austerity, members of Congress couldn't resist slices of pork for their friends. These include $430 million in tax breaks for Hollywood filmmakers - who are doing very well at the box office - $331 million for railroad operators, $222 million for producers of rum in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, $70 million for NASCAR, $59 million for algae growers, $4 million for makers of electric motorcycles and $15 million for asparagus growers.

Bob: Another good point. It should be mandatory that any tax breaks go through appropriate committees and be voted on separately by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That will bring provisions like these out of the darkness of lobbyist deals (that's how these special-interest tax breaks get into essential bills such as the fiscal cliff) and into the light for all to see.

Cal: In the end, voters will have to make up their minds. They sent conservative, tax-cutting, reduced-spending members to the House in 2010, but re-elected a high-taxing, increased-spending and Democratic president and Senate. Do they want constitutionally limited government or continued borrowing, spending and taxing of the productive?

Bob: That's democracy, Cal. It's often not as predictable as you would like, but it still is the best form of government in the world. Voters don't go to the polls to satisfy your political beliefs.

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